She sells sea shells

Today I made some sweet little books specifically for the Artisan's Fair in Whangarei on 4 March.

The one other market type environment I have taken my books to was a total failure, but that may have been both the atrocious weather keeping the punters away from Thistle Hall in Wellington last winter and the inappropriate company I was keeping (pretty much all the other people were selling zine-type publications i.e. photocopied, stapled, punk). In the week before that market I had quickly put together a bunch of cute little books for relatively low prices... and despite the disappointment at Thistle Hall, they eventually all sold, at parties or through my website, in the lead up to Christmas.

Given my increasingly desperate need to generate some income I thought the Artisan's Fair might be worth giving a go- I'm assuming I will be in the company of some classy potters & weavers etc and that the punters will be looking for art not punk. I will take all my books, but it seems like a good idea to have some more choice available for under $25.

I have been collecting pretty bits and pieces on my beach walks and incorporated these into some cute little books. Two wee (2cm) blank books using scraps of special paper are sewn into shell covers. Three little (5cm) square books contain a poem called wavelets and have a piece of either kina, paua or coral glued on the cover, with a ribbon to close.

Making these little beach books was a fun break from the intensity of my work on the bush books. I'm sorry I don't have any photos but if anyone is interested in an advance purchase (blank books $10 and wavelets $20) I'd be glad to post you one of these little cuties.